Throughout this season another addition to our lineup here at Jets Nation will be the tracking of scoring chances for and against the Jets. In an early pre-season press conference, Claude Noel admitted that he uses scoring chances to evaluate players, so we're going to follow suit to see if we can begin to understand some of Noel's lineup choices. Here’s an update from the first week of the Jets season.

For those of you who are unaware of what exactly a scoring chance is, check out definitions and explanations of its importance here and here, but basically it has been defined as the following (from Copper & Blue):

A scoring chance is defined as a clear play directed toward the opposing net from a dangerous scoring area - loosely defined as the top of the circle in and inside the faceoff dots (nicknamed the Home Plate), though sometimes slightly more generous than that depending on the amount of immediately-preceding puck movement or screens in front of the net. Blocked shots are generally not included but missed shots are. A player is awarded a scoring chance anytime he is on the ice and someone from either team has a chance to score. He is awarded a "chance for" if someone on his team has a chance to score and a "chance against" if the opposing team has a chance to score.

So without further delay, here is how the Jets have been doing thus far:

Game 1 @ Edmonton:

Player

Chances For

Chances Vs.

Chance +/-

Postma

3

1

2

Stuart

3

6

-3

Trouba

6

5

1

Kane

6

4

2

Jokinen

5

0

5

Ladd

3

5

-2

Wright

5

2

3

Little

4

5

-1

Slater

1

2

-1

Thorburn

1

0

1

Wheeler

5

3

2

Tangradi

2

1

1

Byfuglien

6

6

0

Enstrom

6

3

3

Setoguchi

6

2

4

Bogosian

6

4

2

Scheifele

6

3

3

Frolik

4

2

2

This game was crazy. As would be expected from a season opener, things were rather sloppy and there were chances everywhere. Most Jets ended up on the positive side of the ledger, but of some concern would be the minuses beside Ladd and Little. I contribute it to a combination of their inability to really generate in the offensive zone, along with their facing of Edmonton’s top line.

What was really nice to see was Jokinen actually sitting at a perfect 5-0. He could really use a good start following last year’s atrocious season, and it seems like sliding him on the third line with Frolik works pretty well.

Scheifele, Kane and Setoguchi also had a solid game, but it really didn’t take this chart to say that.

Game 2 vs. LA:

Even Strength

PP/SH

Chance +/-

Player

For

Vs.

For

Vs.

Postma

3

1

0

0

2

Stuart

4

1

0

0

3

Trouba

0

3

1

0

-2

Kane

2

0

1

0

3

Jokinen

4

3

0

0

1

Ladd

0

3

3

1

-1

Wright

1

2

0

0

-1

Little

0

2

3

1

0

Slater

1

2

0

0

-1

Thorburn

1

1

0

0

0

Wheeler

0

2

3

1

0

Tangradi

3

2

0

0

1

Byfuglien

2

4

3

1

0

Enstrom

2

2

3

1

2

Setoguchi

2

0

1

0

3

Bogosian

1

3

1

0

-1

Scheifele

1

0

1

0

2

Frolik

3

4

0

0

-1

Team

1st (EV)

2nd (EV)

3rd (EV)

Total (ES)

Winnipeg

1(1)

2(0)

7(5)

10(6)

Los Angeles

7(4)

1(1)

5(2)

13(7)

The Jets had a really rough start and finish to this game. Following an absolute shellacking to start, the Jets held LA to a single chance throughout the second and 10 minutes into the third, building up a three goal lead before LA started to push back and make things interesting.

Again of concern are the big fat zeros that Ladd Little and Wheeler managed to put up at even strength. As I pointed out via their zone entries, the guys have no problem getting the puck down the ice; they just can’t seem to do anything once they are down there. They appear to be having some trouble adjusting to the defensive systems that the aggressive Western Conference apply, so hopefully they will be able to figure it out relatively soon.

Once again the second line of Scheifele, Setoguchi and Kane had a solid performance, and it resulted in three of the Jets goals on the night. Keep in mind here that neither Kane’s long distance wrist shot, or Seto’s wrap around were counted as scoring chances in this game.

Game 3 vs. Anaheim:

Even Strength

PP/SH

Chance +/-

Player

For

Vs.

For

Vs.

Stuart

2

4

0

1

-3

Trouba

1

4

0

1

-4

Kane

1

5

1

0

-3

Jokinen

1

4

0

0

-3

Peluso

0

3

0

0

-3

Ladd

1

5

1

0

-3

Wright

0

0

0

1

-1

Little

1

4

1

0

-2

Slater

0

4

0

1

-5

Clitsome

0

6

0

0

-6

Wheeler

1

5

1

0

-3

Tangradi

1

6

0

0

-5

Byfuglien

1

6

2

0

-3

Enstrom

1

5

2

0

-2

Setoguchi

2

4

1

0

-1

Bogosian

1

7

0

0

-6

Scheifele

1

4

1

0

-2

Frolik

1

4

0

0

-3

Team

1st (EV)

2nd (EV)

3rd (EV)

Total (ES)

Winnipeg

1(1)

2(0)

2(2)

5(3)

Anaheim

9(8)

3(3)

5(5)

17(16)

This game was about as ugly on paper as it was on the ice. It’s one thing to get out shot, as the Jets did in games 1 & 2, but if you can keep those shots to the perimeter and limit the quality chances against you can improve your chances of holding on to win. When you get absolutely slaughtered chance wise? Well, nobody really feels pity for you when you end up losing a game due to a freak accident.

The pairing of Bogosian and Clitsome was destroyed in this game. Serve it up to Clitsome’s first regular game action this year resulting in a multitude of horrid offensive zone turnovers, poor decisions, and inability to clear the puck, but the fact that Claude decided it was okay to put him in “after two practices” (his words, not mine), is questionable at best.

Despite scoring two goals (one of which qualified as a chance by me), the LLW line was once again picked apart. Same old story here of the trio being able to get the puck deep and not really doing anything with it. I feel I also need to point out that both of Blake Wheeler’s chances saw him throw the puck wide of the net, one of which led to Andrew Ladd’s second goal (his first didn’t count as a “chance” for either player) and hitting the net might help this line’s production a little more regardless of their chance count.

Moving Forward

As I become more efficient at recording stats and getting these things together, you can expect these posts not only to come more often but to contain more information. I will be able to provide you with both teams’ stats, allowing a direct comparison to see who had success against whom.

What do you think? Does anyone need to really step up their game? What’s concerning you? Let us know below!

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